Brachiosaurus (World of History by Schleich)

Review and photos by Nathan ‘Takama’ Morris, edited by amargasaurus cazaui and Suspsy

Well everyone, it’s time for another Schleich World of History review. This one will cover the 2012 Brachiosaurus. If you have been following my other WoH reviews, you know that 2012 was the year Schleich revamped and renamed their dinosaur line, making smaller versions of models they had made previously, and in some cases, giving them articulated jaws. In other cases entire new sculpts were done. The Brachiosaurus is unique because it’s a smaller version of the one previously released for the Replicasaurus line, and has been updated to current scientific understanding.

As with the original model, this one is technically not a Brachiosaurus, but rather a Giraffatitan brancai. I’m assuming this because the torso is too short to be Brachiosaurus, and because a Giraffatitan skeleton was often referenced for various toys back in the 20th century, and is still referenced by some companies today. Also, Marc “Horridus” Vincent referred to the last Replicasaurus model as a Giraffatitan as well, and this new model was based on it. What sets the 2012 model apart from the original is that the neck is held out and looking to the side instead of being held straight up like a periscope.

For inaccuracies, there are two things that stand out the most. The first one is that the feet are elephantine, just like with a lot of older sauropod models, and the nostrils are placed up close to the eyes. The model does come to life with individually sculpted scales, but most of them appear to be too large and look like dried up dirt with cracks thanks to the dark brown coloration. There are smaller scales sculpted on the face of the model, but that’s as fine as the scales can get.

The model is also adorned with wrinkles that give it a realistic look, and it is nice and solidly built. If you were to turn the model on its side, you can see that the fine sculptural work has been taken to the extreme, with folds that seem to move as the animal breathes if you stare at them for too long. In my opinion, this is the best part of the model, as it shows how talented the sculptors at Schleich can be if given the opportunity

Overall this is a decent sauropod figure that bears many of the same issues as the original figure reviewed by Marc. I am sure that the drop in size may be a turn off for some, and the dark brown color might not be aesthetically pleasing with the irregular shapes made to represent the animals scales added. Since I think the model looks best when viewed from the bottom I dont think it is worth getting for the asking price of $27.99. If you still want one, you can find it at Wal-Mart, Toys R Us, and of course on Amazon and Ebay.